
cOt>-ej"rvjQ-»^i^->t_. 



§ 






PlcMLu.^5U_xJLa (l 




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Glass. 
Book. 






ADDRESS 



OF 



V 



REV. EBENEZER JENNINGS, 



DELIVERED AT PLAINFIELD, (Mass.) 



July 4, 1836. 



BEING THE SIXTIETH ANNIVERSA 




^metCcan l^ntrepentrencr. 



S NORTHAMPTON: 
Jobn Metcalf... .Printer. 

1836. 



0> 






After the following address was delivered ; it was resolved " that the 
thanks of the assembly be presented to the Rev. Mr. Jennings, for his able, 
patriotic, and impartial address, and that a copy be requested for the 
press." 

- Col. Josiab Shaw, Elijah Clark, Esq. and Col. Jason Ricbardi^ wer« 
appointed a Committee to carry the same into effect. 



My Fellow Citizens, of the great Republic, I address 
you as such, on this interesting day. 

Should time and circumstances ever efface from the 
minds of distant coming generations, the recollections of 
this day, which gave birth to our nation, we certainly 
live too near it, to let it pass unobserved. While as yet, 
there are some standing here, who have "jeoparded their 
lives in the high places of the field," to gain our Indepen- 
dence ; we, as their sons and daughters, will not forget 
the day, — and for myself, there is one circumstance you 
will permit me to mention. 1 was a child, by birth, of 
'76. Nearly the same week of the declaration of Inde- 
pendence, I began to be rocked in the cradle of parental 
affection — at that moment, the cradle of American Liber- 
ty. And I can never forget the circumstance ; when 
the proclamation of" Peace" was issued, my father used 
to call in his little son, when the neighbors came in to 
greet him, and make him read that instrument before 
them ; gladdening his heart, that he had lived to see the 
day, when his children should quietly breathe the air of 
freedom. And, as if inwrought into my imagination by 
the circumstances of birth, the " clangor of arms" infest- 
ed my dreams. And at the age of 15, with quick and 
joyful steps, I made my way from the " land of steady 
habits," my native State, to place my feet on Bunker 
Hill ; and there, from some thirty hills, the forts and re- 
(ioubts " still keeping their place the same," enchanted the 



eye of youthful astonishment ; and nought on earth has 
ever yet filled the imagination with the same fullness of 
admiration and glory. — Ah ! and while those wasting 
mementos o^ the feorful flight of our enemies, are leveled 
to the plow, the proud Monument of Bunker Hill, rearing 
by the patriotism of the sons of freedom, shall tell through 
successive generations, the triumphant story of all the 
movements, under God, to the final victory, that " crown- 
ed the day." 

And now, when our "political bark" was thus launch- 
ed, on the tempestuous and uncertain, sea of liberty ; it 
would be but natural, that I should have kept my eye on 
her sails, her rigging and her movements ; though my 
spy-glass was but a little one. And I see — I see, for a 
long sixty years, she " outrides the storm." She has 
steered clear of the " rocks and the shoals ;" and although 
adverse winds have whistled through her rigging, and 
sometimes made a rent in her sails ; she yet rides in tri- 
umph in sight of the nations of the earth — and is it too 
much to say, a " spectacle to angels and to men." — Yes, 
she had her Washington at the helm, as wise, and as 
great, and as honest, in the Cabinet as in the Field ; 
around whom, the hearts of the people were gathered, 
interposing the breast-plate of their love, to the few shafts 
o( envy and jealousy, but now and then, shot from polluted 
hands. Peace — to his ashes, till the " great resurrec- 
tion." Enthroned in the hearts of every American, let 
him live, till the world thall end, — the hero, the states- 
man, and the honest man, who always quietly waited for 
God, and his Country's call. Yes, and we had our Ad- 
ams too — yes, and let us be candid, we had our Jefferson 
too ; whom, to say no more, death made friends in one 
day. The anxieties, the heavings and sighings of the 
soul, beginning at the same moment ; kindling, burning 
and glowing together for their country's glory, — and 
when the sun of its glory shone so brightly, in beholding 



its brightness ; as if the ravishing prospect overpowered 
the feeble tenement of the soul, they expire together on 
the same, fiftieth anniversary day, of their country's glo- 
ry ; as if, in the purpose of God, to make one other show- 
ing, of his "setting his seal," to the reign of liberty. 

I can only glance at a few occurrences. We pass on. 
— A wide and extended country — territory enough — (a 
Louisiana purchase just for convenience,) the Federal 
compact established — governmental and state rights se- 
cured — a " wheel in the middle of a wheel" — an empire 
within an empire — the " federal government," in sound 
Websterian construction of it, like " Aaron's serpent, 
swallows up the rest." A nation now of freemen, — the 
children of a rich, proud, but hard and oppressing pa- 
rent ; — not having " spent their substance in riotous liv- 
ing" — " keen for the fight," as well as for the axe ; har- 
dy, industrious, persevering ; — thrown into an attitude 
to exert all their power and skill for national existence ; 
flushed with victory, and put on the highest point of 
their energies, as a nation. And let it be noted, that 
without such existence, no nation ever yet came up to the 
full measure of their energies. And now, in the calm 
sunshine o( peace, what might we not expect? Aye, an- 
ticipation has been more than realized. The waving for- 
ests have been cleared away, and we have built our 
" towns and cities there." The cattle graze upon the 
pastures; and the sheep bleat on a "thousand hills." 
Our country, rife in its own productions, wafts its sur- 
plus produce, at pleasure, on every sea, by its own can- 
vas, and the price thereof, like the inclined beam in the 
balance, trembles and shifts, till it finds its equilibrium. 
Our Schools, Academies, and Colleges, tell to us, and 
others, that our science does not consist solely in hand- 
ling the axe, or following the plow. In manufactures 
and the mechanic arts, no man will say we have been 
slow of intellect. The resources of our country, and the 



interchange of our commodities with, let me say, all na- 
tions of the earth, tell upon our treasury, the astounding 
fact, that the immense debt of two wars has been fully 
discharged. Our canals and our railroads, and may I 
not say, our proud passage by steam, only indicate now, 
what can he. 

But I must stop. — Ah ! there is something, as Down- 
ing would say, which " trigs the wheels." — Ah ! yes, 
there is — there is ! That slavery — slavery, that inherited 
curse ; once graced over by the sanction of Zion's friends, 
and now, with us " compacted by that which every joint 
supplieth, maketh increase, to the edification of the bo- 
dy," in hate. Ah ! who shall tell us what shall be done? 
Ye sages in Church and State, commingling your coun- 
sels at the altar of God ; tell us, what shall be done ! 
Impenetrable darkness, as yet, broods over this subject. 
I can only dart a thought across it. 

Talk on, ye Abolitionists. Shed forth your light, only 
" take heed to your spirits ;" and be afraid, that your im- 
mediate remedy, be not worse than the disease. Talk on 
kindly. The slave-holder will begin to think (if he sees 
in you the charities of the gospel) on the melioration of 
the condition of his slave. He will give permission, and 
even aid in giving him the " light of the life to come." 
And the poor slave will begin to feel the full force, ivith- 
out force, of the benign Apostle's saying, " if thou may'st 
be free, use it rather.^' And in God's own time, when 
the door of the master's heart shall be unlocked by the 
power of the gospel ; and with a clear view of the same 
benevolence toward the providential condition of his slave, 
he will say, in the fullness of his heart, " Be thou free." 
And ye Colonizationists, talk on — act efficiently, for you 
can do it. Bear away on your charities, to " Afric's soil," 
him that is free, and him that is willing. Return the 
" stolen goods,"" uninjured. Or, in other phrase ; take 
back, O degraded Africa, the soil we surreptitiously at- 



tempted to settle upon — take it back, " without money 
and without price," and thank us for the " betterments.'* 
I add again, carry him back to the land of his inherit- 
ance, now a freeman — b. freeman — a name he never knew 
before, — carry him back, redeemed at home — redeemed 
here ; and he will thank you forever, for his double re- 
demption, and his double trans-atlantic voyage. There, 
on his native soil, and in his new republic, open to him 
the fountains of civilization, and Christianity ; and there, 
let his light radiate till his more wretched brethren " feel 
the heavenly shine." And what remain in this land of 
liberty, let us for them, watch the " pillar of cloud by 
day, and the pillar of fire by night," and not rashly move 
forward without the token. 

I pass for a moment to the poor Indian. I can only 
say a word — I pity his case. It is wretched now — it al- 
ways has been. The philanthropy of the Civilian and 
Statesman, the prayers and labors of an Eliot, a Brain- 
ard, and a Sergeant, have left him still in a wretched 
condition. We shall all perceive, that it has been tried, 
in long experiment, that commingling with the white 
population, and for the purpose of civilizing and christian- 
izing them, has all been in vain. New-England, with all 
her virtues and her benevolence toward them, could not 
retain them amid her population. At their own will, 
they have retired ; and the voice of the good and pious 
has pronounced it right. And often has this voice kind- 
ly urged on them, the terms of a fair and just purchase. 
It does seem that God and nature, have said in language 
too plain to be misunderstood, they cannot dwell among 
us, either for their oivn good, or for ours. I am decided- 
ly of opinion (though some may perhaps differ from me) 
that the policy of the general government to remove them 
for the present, at least, to the " far West," was the dic- 
tate of the soundest wisdom, sanctioned by the experience 
and example of two hundred years ; and in the approv- 



8 

iiig voice of the pious and the good, in church and state. 
To carry out this poHcy toward the remaining tribes in 
the States was a difficult task. The government was 
crowded up by, I suppose, the selfish inroads of the Geor- 
gians on the Indian territory within their State. They 
waited for more than twenty-five years, for the govern- 
ment to extinguish the title of the Indians to that territo- 
ry ; which the government had stipulated to do, when it 
could be " peaceably done." The Georgians »?a/-treated 
the Indians, and they resorted to the government for the 
" stipulated" protection. The government, and" perhaps 
wisely, forebore to employ force, and made the Indians 
an ofi'er of exchange of lands. If the offer, with the ap- 
pendages, was noi fair and generous, it should have been. 
To compel the Indians to sell, or exchange, never entered 
into the mind of the government. I have ever believed 
the government, all things being as they were, took the 
wisest course. And whatever the Georgians have done 
as oppressive, and they have no doubt, done a great deal, 
though not " sinners, probably, above all other men ;" 
and whatever the governmental agents have guilefully 
and wickedly done, in carrying into effect the entire pur- 
poses of the government, I most sadly deplore ; and I 
hope the sin, and judgment of it, will be averted by the 
deepest reperitance. And now, let the Indian retire — pay 
him generously, and let him retire, probably for his own 
good, to the still " farther West." There, unsurrounded 
for the present, and let me say, unembarrassed by a white 
population ; let him follow the chase, his native delight, 
or till the soil. And you may follow him with your pray- 
ers, and your missionaries, till divine providence shall 
yet further tell, whether he is to be civilized and chris- 
tianized, or — his race become extinct. 

Ah ! my fellow citizens, we might under a kind provi- 
dence, surmount these evils, if all other things were 
" equal." But, I must turn over another page still more 



9 

bklrred, and ti-y to read it. Here we are presented, on 
the title page, I will not say, with a totals but a fearful 
destitution of moral principle, of honesty, and uprightness. 
Ah ! me, the "spirit of the times !" I love to hear the 
phrase when applied to the enterprise of our age ; but 
when applied to the moral principle, to the honesty and 
uprightness of our age, it palls on my moral sensibilities, 
and I could wish, I now heard it no more. The love of 
•popularity, amid our free institutions, the ambition, the 
love of distinction, the " looking of every man to his gain," 
the general scramble for office and "place ;" in their on- 
ward and rapid march, seem to bid defiance to the efforts 
of truth and righteousness ; as if" truth had fallen in our 
streets and equity could not enter." The sectional jeal- 
ousies, the differing interests, the prejudice and selfish- 
ness of party feelings, " eat as doth a canker ;" and are 
wasting away our vital energies. Thousands seem rea- 
dy, at any moment, to launch their bark on any sea, and 
hoist their sail to the popular breeze, that toill bear them 
onward, as if it were of little consequence, which way 
they were driven, or on what territory they were landed. 
The voice of soberness and truth sounds feebly on the 
ear. — The political jugglers for " fame and place," easily 
take advantage of any story, somewhere and somehow 
conjured up, and many an Editor, (at least for a little of 
the " ready") would be willing to spread it before the 
people, and nought can enter that guarantied, and yet 
responsible deposite of the principles and feelings of the 
people ; that would, for its offence against popularity, take 
off even one subscriber. Now the same selfish fearfulness 
to loss and to popularity, seems to pervade every class in 
community, from the chair of state, down to the very 
*' chimney sweep ;" as if the whole community were mov- 
ed by one common impulse, individually to inquire, as 
the only concern in life ; what will be for my interest 7 
Or, in words of holy writ, " who will show us any good ?" 



10 

And the question, what is right, is the last question to 
be asked with a full voice. Yes, the whole community 
seem, too manifestly, to be acting on the broad and 
damning principle of supreme selfishness. This is the gist 
and secret of our iniquities. — And in this franh: and honest 
hour, I should be sorry to lie under the suspicion of og- 
ling to some statute, in by-gone days, and in other lands, 
to take advantage of it, for the " benefit of Clergy," or 
the church. I hope it will not be deemed unfair or un- 
kind, to say that the church of God, partaking, as she 
will, more or less, of this " spirit of the times," embosoms 
much of the same unholy principle. It cannot be denied 
that many within her pale, are too strongly disposed to 
bend and sway to interest, and to fawn, and crouch to 

popular favor. From the waters of the " Sound" to the 

last religious figurer of the empire State, — and for what ? 
ah, too fearfully, (or what? — Was it to beguile the people 
into the belief of a new-ism, whether it in reality, existed 
or not ? and the end was answered ? Or, certainly, it 
was in effect, to create a 7iew line of jealousies, and sun- 
der the bonds of fraternal feeling. " Tell it not in Gath," 
save this once. And, if borne on by mere popular feeling, 
I will say with Pope ; — " Pursue the triumph, and par- 
take the gale." — If we turn now, and cast the Jcindest 
eye on that great, and absorbing forum of ecclesiastical 
discussion in our nation, we should be forced to conclude, 
it is not now, the ftfest place, to learn the meekness, the 
gentleness and the purity of that religion, which must 
preserve, and save our country ; and, if we look at the 
late showing there, of the desecration of the Sabbath, we 
shall too fearfully see, in Zion's friends, the employment 
of capital, to say nothing more, to administer, in effect, to 
the corruption of morals ; as if selfishness had put her 
" ue^o" on every other consideration. 1 will draw aside 
the veil no furtlier in my department ; and now only say, 
1 am sorry ! ! 



11 

Ah ! this same selfishness, (with too few honorable ex- 
ceptions) as I have already said, pervades every class in 
community, as if every one was " looking to his own way, 
and to his gain from his quarter ;" and truth and right- 
eousness were left to take care of themselves ; — and in un- 
checked progress, what are we not to expect ? And 
now, fellow citizens, is it any wonder, in such a state of 
common feeling, if there is an under current of infidelity, 
and even in " high places," which would burst forth, 
whenever it could become popular 7 Is it any wonder if 
the Sabbath becomes desecrated — if error in a thousand 
forms, in state and church, should stalk through the 
land ? — If Owenism and Mormonism, and I dare not 
name the rest, of the half and quarter blood relation, 
should spread their influence, as it shall be fanned by the 
popular breeze ? Is it any wonder, if any political man 
will chaffer for office and place, if he can be borne on by 
any story of deceit or guile ? Is it any wonder, that the 
aspirant for office, will shift his opinion into accordance 
with the feelings and views of those who will help him on ? 
Is it any wonder, if your Senators and Representatives, 
in state or nation, are not the same to day they were 
some four or six years ago ; or will it be strange if they 
are not next year what they now are, or next month, or 
even tomorrow ? As if, my hearers, the body of electors 
and voters were giving their divided tone, creating and 
consecrating the divided public feeling ; and they that 
" would be great," standing and looking on, to take the 
benefit of it. 

But I am compelled to cast an eye forward, to see 
these conflicting interests — these jealousies, party feel- 
ings, aspirations for office, founded in the selfishness of 
the human heart, and so uncognizant of the public good ; 
heaving, striving, " agonizing," to a focal point. — Who 
shall be our President ? And, gentlemen, I have no par- 
ty ends to answer. Let us make "' straight paths for our 



12 

feet." — And who do you want to preside over you ? I'lJ 
tell you. A man who will satisfy all parties, who will 
how to every interest, however selfish ; who watching 
the motions of every party, will nod assent to the strong- 
est. A man who in the language of Lord Byron, will 
" sway, and sooth, and sue, — and be aliving lie;" or in the 
emphatic language of common parlance — a man who 
would not dare to say, " his soul's his own." Yes, fel- 
low citizens, you are " the people — the people ;" and I 
love to have it so, — the people who rule and make your 
President. But I beseech you to let him have a soul as 
well as you — have an opinion as well as you — be a man 
as well as you. If he is to answer every party, to be 
swayed by every selfish or ambitious purpose, to be 
drawn away by every petty interest, to succumb to please 
the selfish wish of every man; from my heart, I pity him. 
And 1 will wail for the selfish and unprincipled feelings 
of the people, who would wish his virtues were not made 
of " sterner stuflT." And has it come to this ; that if 
Washington, with all his honesty, integrity and upright- 
ness, should he come on earth again, could not by your 
suffrages, take the chair of State ? In the present state 
of feeling, you would not advance him there. He would 
be too honest, and too inflexible of honest purpose, for the 
" spirit of the times." And dare I say, I should be 
afraid to put a christian there, to be the man your selfish 
feelings would wish him to be ? He would pollute his 
holy profession, if he met your wishes. And I should 
pity the sect to which he belonged. I would rather ven- 
ture, in the language of Pope ; '•' To give humility a coach 
and six." 

Gentlemen, I am speaking for no party purpose. Pres- 
ident Jackson was not the man of my choice. But 1 am 
not quite sure, he was not the very man you needed. 
Not because he was a Washington ; but because he was 
found to have a soul, a purpose, a resolution, and I sup- 



13 

pose," a constitutional, unbending xoill, that fitted him for 
the peculiar period of his administration. And his friends 
quailed under it, because he was their man. And, let it 
be, as it has been told on the floor of Congress, that he 
has thrown around him the selfish homage, that borders 
on idolatry ; still you will remember, what has now been 
said, this only shows, the corrupted state of a majority of 
the " body politic." And, his opposers, I'll do them jus- 
tice too, cannot fairly plead exemption from the same 
pollution. And I am crowded to say, for truth runs in 
" straight lines ;" you may change the line of succession, 
(as you know the people are trying to do in Massachu- 
setts) but while the great polluted fountain remains the 
same ; it will be only pouring some of the same water into 
another cup. And I will admit, there may be a momen- 
tary and contingent gain. But I will leave it to the po- 
litical and moral chemist, to say how much. I will now 
take my leave of our President. He will soon retire 
from his office. And I will venture to predict, that if 
this unsubdued, selfish, ambitious, corrupted and corrupt- 
ing feeling, of the " body politic," meets no checlc ; that 
the name of some future President, in twice four years, 
or as many more, will not be worthy, to be enrolled on 
the same page with that of Andrew Jackson. 

You will not impute to me an electioneering purpose, 
for I have none, and I will speak once more. Who shall 
be your next President ? If I have rightly depicted your 
wishes, and the slate of things, it will follow of course ; 
he will be the man, whoever he be, who has never been 
guilty of telling too much truth ; and who has it legibly in- 
scribed, on his political " Phylactery," that he will never 
think, or act, or speak, as a public man, till he has cau- 
tiously considered, the selfish will oi every State, of every 
party, and of every junto — of every society, of yown^g- men 
and old men, and maidens too ; and thus bows submis- 
sively — your humble servant. — And when your congrega- 



14 

ted and consolidated feelings, shall fully have designated 
the man to your liking ; I assure you, I will do him reve- 
rence, as being as patriotic, as good, and as honest, as 
" the times will admit." And, in mythologic language, 
we may " thank our stars," that the fates were so Tcind, 
as to afford us one so good. And I will only regret for 
my country, to say the least, that the spirit of Washing- 
ton could not diffuse its influence from the chair of State ; 
and to say the most, that the spirit of king David could 
not shed its light on our American Israel. 

I will now trespass on your patience, but a few mo- 
ments longer. 

It must be solemnly borne on our mind, that the grand 
secret of our safety as a nation, lies in the honesty and 
virtue of the people. But, this floating on the popular 
current, as if that current were made by some magic 
spell, in an unseen world — this truckling to our every in- 
terest — this " looking, every man on the things of his 
own, and not on the things of others" — this " skulking" 
behind our own selfishness, and petty interests, in both 
church and state, when truth and righteousness, and the 
general good are overlooked, I am awfully afraid, will yet 
prove but the sure passport to the ruin of our country ! ! 
If any should think I have darkened the picture too 
much, he may reflect, that I have said nothing about our 
profanity, our aivful desecration of the Sabbath, the un- 
sightly relics of our intemperance — of the unnameaUe pol- 
lution of our cities, oi^ southern cruelties, of our mobs, our 
murders, and our Lynch laws. I have been looking 
nearer home, — into the heart of the great community — in- 
to that fountain from which all the polluted streams flow 
forth. 

And now, in special and direct view, to what has been 
said in this address, have we any redeeming qualities ? 
I answer, yes. We have our Bible : and we have our 
Academies, our Colleges, and our Theological Institu- 



15 

tions ; all of which have been baptized for sound litera- 
ture and science, and biblical exposition, — and they have 
not lost as yet, their baptismal rite. With these helps, 
and the enlarged intelligence that results from them, the 
public mind is susceptible of being swayed. And I now 
humbly call on my Clerical brethren, upon the Civilian, 
the Statesman, the Poet, the Orator, and the Editor, who 
have been baptized, as in the fountains of our literature 
and piety ; to come out boldly, as honest men ; and say 
nothing, and write nothing, and publish nothing, which is 
inconsistent with " sound speech that cannot be denied ;" — 
and honestly, and without fear of consequences, mould 
and guide that mass of mind, that can yet, under God, be 
swayed by your influence ; — and strive together, to bring 
that mass of mind, now so rapidly increasing, by an in- 
flux of " incestuous" and polluted additions — to bring it 
under that holy and benevolent influence, which that great 
Charter of our heavenly rights, has so graciously and 
righteously demanded, for our present and eternal felici- 
ty. And let every christian, who is so " in deed and in 
truth,^^ awake from his slumbers. And let every Ameri- 
can citizen, solemnly bear it on his mind, that he should 
be more afraid of the sins, we have specified in the body 
of this address, than of the curse of slavery, the tomahawk 
and the scalping-knife of the Indian, or the hostile inroad 
of the mightiest nation on the globe. And let him re- 
member too, that for these sins Israel of old was carried 
away to Babylon. And for these sins, which preyed on 
the heart, Jerusalem, the city of the " Great King," and 
once the pecuHar residence of God, is now left of her 
God and her Saviour ; " to be trodden down of the Gen- 
tiles ! ! " 



16 

I must now address a few words to those venerable- 
Fathers of the revolution, who sit before me. 

You have borne for us, the " burden and heat of the 
day ;" and we of this generation, will gratefully remem- 
ber you. And although coming generations shall tread 
over your graves, and not know who sleeps heneath their 
feet; the .page of history shall faithfully record your 
fears, your toils, your sufferings, your valor and your vic- 
tories. And when you look at the pittance you receive 
from year to year, whether you are rich or poor, consider 
it as a toJien of the remembrance of your country, when 
you stood fearless, at the cannon's mouth, to gain that 
liberty, which you, and your children and your country 
have enjoyed, even so long. And had you, in military 
style, died on the " field of glory," we should readily 
have said, in the words of a Poet, you died not " the 
death of cowards, or of common men.'" But you have es- 
caped the deadly wounds of the battle, — and in the 
peaceful shades of your now comfortable retirement, from 
the din of battles, and the bustle of the world ; may you 
enjoy, in the evening of your protracted life, that '■^ peace 
which the world cannot give or take away." And when 
the last hour shall come, and you shall have commended 
your immortal spirits to the mercy of that God, who can 
make you '^ free meri'^ in Christ ; let this one petition, 
quiver on your dying lips : — " God save the Common- 
wealth," — God save the Nation. 



Tlie following poisons were present, as borne on the Pension list : — 
Rev. Moses Hallock, Dea. James Richartls, John Hamlin, Esi]. Jacob Nasli, 

l*hillip Packard, Samuel Strecter, Josiah Shuw, Ebenezer Dickinson, Whitcomb 

Pratt, Caleb White, Joseph Karnard. 
Samuel Thayer, Caleb Packard, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Butler ; from otlier towns, 
Four others in Piainfield, absent. 



c^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




011 801 803 5 # 




